Book: The Human Side of Animals

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Animals not only know how to doctor themselves when they are sick, but
some of them, such as the fox, have learned how to make artificial heat
by covering green leaves with dirt. And while they do not make fire,
their homes are often heated in this practical way, and thus sickness
avoided. Domestic horses and dogs wear hats in summer, and possibly in
the future they will learn the enormous importance of wearing clothes!
Trained monkeys already take great delight in dressing up, and dogs
like smart suits.

Monkeys show the greatest interest and brotherly love when one of their
number is injured. Watson tells of a female monkey that was shot and
carried into a tent. Several of her tribe advanced with frightful
gestures, and only stopped when met with a gun. The chief of the tribe
then came forward, chattering and remonstrating vigorously. But as he
came nearer, there was every evidence of grief and supplication for the
body. As he was given the body, he affectionately took it in his arms
and slowly moved to his companions, and like a silent funeral procession
they all walked away.

Nor does their interest cease with life, for we are told by no less
authority than Col. Theodore Roosevelt of a large grizzly bear that was
discovered lying across the trail in the woods. The hunter shot her as
she was preparing to charge him, and later he examined the spot where
she was lying, and found that it was the newly made grave of her cub.
Evidently some animal had killed the cub in her absence, and she, in her
grief, was determined to avenge the wrong by lying in wait for the
enemy.

Public meetings for civic council and religious worship are not confined
to man alone. In Macgrave's _History of Brazil_ we are told of a
species of South American monkey known as the ouraines, which the
natives call preachers of the woods. These highly intelligent creatures
assemble every morning and evening, when the leader takes a place apart
from the rest and addresses them from his pulpit or platform, Having
taken his position, he signals to the others to be seated, after which
he speaks to them in a language loud and rapid, with the gestures of a
Billy Sunday, the audience listening in profound silence. He then
signals again with his paws, when all cry out together in apparently
confused noises, until another signal for silence comes from their
leader. Then follows another discourse, at the close of which the
assembly disperses. Macgrave attempts no explanation as to the object of
these addresses; but if his accounts be true, surely they must have as
much meaning for the monkeys as many of our public lectures and church
services have for us! No doubt much of the advice imparted concerns the
personal and collective welfare of the tribe members.




IX

SELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT

_"In the days of yore, when the world was young,
Sages of asses spoke, and poets sung;
In God's own book we find their humble name,
Some enrolled upon the scroll of fame."_


There is no phase of animal life which is more interesting than that
through which Nature governs and protects her children. Each and every
species of animal possesses the method of self-defence and protection
best adapted to it. Most of the larger animals are of themselves so
powerful that they need no protection other than that afforded by their
strength, while most of the weaker and less aggressive animals are
provided with some special method of defence.

The tiger, lion, panther, and wolf have formidable claws and teeth;
while the shark has such immense jaws that he can sever the head of a
goat at one bite. And most of them are in reality tyrants. They rule by
tyranny--the oppression of the weak by the strong, whether that strength
be physical or mental,--a trait as common in animals as in man. Among
the animals it takes the commonest form, and they not only oppress the
weak, but actually kill and eat them, even though they oftentimes are
members of the same family. They are exactly like human cannibals, no
better and no worse.

Flight is perhaps the simplest and most natural method of defence. The
swifter animals, however, such as deer, gazelles, and hares, which may
easily escape by running their fastest, do not always use this method,
but have other means so ingenious as to be real arts. Wolves, when they
see that they are outnumbered, will sometimes escape by following the
exact tracks of a single leader through the snow, and from all
appearances only one has passed the way over which a hundred may have
gone. Hares will separate and run in opposite directions, while
gazelles, if too closely pursued, will jump to one side and lie flat on
the earth to escape notice, and as soon as the enemies have passed, run
in the opposite direction.

It oftentimes happens that aggressively disposed animals, like cowardly
men, are apt to try battle with the unlikeliest adversaries. A
missionary from India tells the story of an alligator who was enjoying a
noonday sleep on the bank of a river, when an immense tiger emerged
from the jungle, made straight for the sleeping saurian until within
leaping distance, when he sprang on the alligator's back, and gained a
strangle hold before the sleeping monster could awake. At first the
tiger was master, for the alligator could not bring his huge jaws into
action, and while lashing viciously at the tiger with his tail, he was
dragged into the jungle. What happened there no one could see, but in a
few moments the tiger dashed out of the jungle and disappeared in the
cane brakes, and the alligator reappeared and crawled into the water.

The ape and the baboon are the most skilled of all animals in making
their flight. They use every method known to man, and because of their
swiftness of action excel man in certain ways. Like man, in the face of
danger, they show great bravery and never lose their presence of mind.
The ape is fast disappearing before man, but against other animals and
Nature he can well protect himself. He is even braver than the lion, who
in captivity allows himself to be petted, but rarely is this true of the
ape, and then only when conditions seem insurmountable.

In making his escape from an enemy, the ape directs his flight in the
most self-possessed and human-like way, never losing his head, and
taking advantage of the first shelter or protection that he meets; if
the young, or females, or aged linger behind, a strong army of males
bravely returns to rescue them at the danger of losing their own lives.
Many of their brave deeds, if recorded in history, would compare
favourably with those of mankind! Too often has a poor, sickly ape,
which by his very feebleness allowed himself to be captured and placed
in a zoo, been compared to human beings. Even in spirit and movements he
has been considered as a human caricature and heaped with ridicule. We
have continually considered his defects, without noticing his better
qualities. We would have a much higher idea of his great family, if we
would take a human derelict and compare him to an ape ruler! This
comparison would be more just.

Certain of the baboon tribes which live among the rocks of high
mountains and cliffs, if pursued by enemies, protect themselves by
ingeniously rolling immense stones down upon their foes. They also hurl
with great force small stones about the size of one's hand. As these
tribes have each from one hundred to three hundred members, they
constitute a formidable grenade army!

In addition to their skilled methods of flight, the baboons, apes, and
monkeys come next to certain of the cat tribes as the greatest fighters
in the animal world. This is astonishing when we remember that these
animals are not professional warriors, nor do they have to fight to
obtain their food. Their greatest defence is their quickness and powers
of biting. When they are attacked by a dog, they usually bite off a foot
or an ear, or leave him minus a tail!

One of the bravest and fiercest of fighters is the bull-dog. Three of
these animals together have been known to capture and hold a large bull.
Deer, when fighting among themselves, often play more than anything, and
are not serious. Red deer seldom injure one another with their long
antlers, but they could easily kill a dog or even a man. Stags, however,
often fight to death, in some instances locking horns and tumbling over
a precipice.

The most ingenious of all the horned fighters is the sable antelope,
whose clever system of self-defence might well be taught in war-schools.
His horns are long, sharp-pointed, and bend backwards. When wounded, or
attacked by wolves or dogs, he lies down, and scientifically covers his
back by rapid fencing with his pointed horns. He can quickly kill any
dog that attacks him in this way.

Occasionally great battles take place between a buffalo and a lion, or
more often two or three lions attack a buffalo, who rarely escapes them.
The strength of a lion is almost beyond our comprehension when we
remember that one can actually carry a cow over an ordinary-sized fence.

[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT HAS MANY MEANS OF DEFENCE, NOT THE LEAST OF
WHICH IS HIS AGILITY IN CLIMBING TO INACCESSIBLE PLACES.]

[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_

WILD BOARS ARE AMONG THE MOST FEROCIOUS OF ANIMALS. BY MEANS OF THEIR
GREAT STRENGTH ALONE THEY ARE WELL ABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.]

A most unique fighter is the giraffe. He has neither claws nor sharp
teeth with which to defend himself; so, if he gets angry with one of his
kind, he deliberately uses his long neck like a pile driver would use a
sledge hammer. Swinging it round and round, he lets his head descend
upon his adversary like a heavy ax! The two animals use the same kind of
tactics, and bracing themselves so as to stand the blows, they fight
until one has to give in. Their heads are furnished with two small
knob-like horns which only protect them from the heavy blows without
serving as offensive weapons.

Most singular and amusing of all methods of self-defence are those which
entirely depend for their efficiency upon bluff, or pretence. The
chameleon, for example, erects his snake-like hood, though he is
harmless, and at the most could scarcely injure the smallest animal.
Equally curious are the methods of skunks and polecats, which project
against enemies a highly disagreeable fluid.

Passive modes of defence are as many and varied as are the active; one
of the strangest and most inexplicable of these is that known as
spontaneous amputation, technically termed autotomy. The lizard, for
example, when captured, will abruptly break loose his tail in order to
escape; and certain wood rats, when caught, loosen the skin on their
tails and deliberately slip away. Autotomy not only permits flight, but
also defends the animal against the most adverse conditions. Nearest
akin to this--defence by means of amputation--is the practice of bears
and raccoons of amputating their limbs when caught in steel traps.

Mimicry, which is treated under another chapter, comes under the head of
passive defence, and form and colour play an important part in it.
Strangely enough, animals which have never resorted to mimicry as a
means of protection, when associated with others who practice it, take
on the habit themselves. This may possibly be due to the fact that new
enemies are constantly arising.

As human sharpshooters dress in garments of the same colour as the woods
in which they hunt, so many animals use this principle of imitation. The
colour of most animals is very similar to their surroundings. This
enables them to lie in wait for prey, a practice as old as the hillsides
with animals. They have learned the extreme value of silence, and that
they must remain at times motionless. This is especially noticeable with
crocodiles, which wait for whole days without moving, concealed in the
water or deep grass, until their prey comes within striking distance,
when they pounce upon it. The same is true of the python snake, which
hangs from a tree so immovable that he appears like a vine or a branch
of the tree. If an animal attempts to pass, he drops upon it.

Perhaps the most unique and successful method of passive defence is the
feigning of death, or "playing 'possum" met with in several animals,
such as the red fox, the opossum, occasionally the elephant, and several
of the snakes. On many occasions I have been 'possum hunting in the
South and found my dog barking at an apparently dead 'possum. As soon as
these animals are approached by larger and stronger enemies, they drop
absolutely motionless on the ground and close their eyes as though they
were dead. Here they remain until the enemy either destroys them,
carries them away, or leaves them alone. If left alone for a few
moments, they immediately spring to their feet and make their escape.

Elephants often feign death when captured, in order to gain their
liberty. Animal catchers tell many interesting tales of elephants
feigning weakness from which they fall to the earth and later apparently
die. In many instances the fastenings are removed from their legs and
head and the carcass is abandoned as useless, when to the utter
astonishment of all--before the captors get out of sight--the animal
springs up and dashes away to the forest, screaming with joy at the
triumph of its deception.

Many animals deliberately assume a frightful, terrifying or grotesque
appearance. This they do by inflating their bodies, by erecting hair,
skin, or folds, or by unusual poses. Darwin speaks of the hissing of
certain snakes, the rattle of the rattle-snake, the grating of the
scales of the echis, each of which serves to frighten or terrify the
enemy.

Bluffing is another form of defence that many animals use. The cobra,
for example, when disturbed, raises its immense hood in a most
terrifying attitude! Many of the lizards use the same tactics; while the
horned toads of America when disturbed actually eject blood from their
eyes. Every one is familiar with the cat's habit of raising the fur on
his back when molested by a dog. All bluffing animals, when in danger,
try to assume a pose that will make them look most dangerous and
impressive to their enemies, and there is little doubt that in most
cases they succeed very well, for we have all seen a dog slink away from
a menacing cat.

The elk or moose, whose home is in the northern part of America and
Europe, is a powerful and large animal, sometimes seven feet in height,
and is able to endure much cold. He has many enemies among animals and
mankind, and during the summer season he is quite able to protect
himself, but in winter there is considerable danger from hordes of
wolves. This is especially true just after a heavy snowstorm, if the
snow is wet and melting. When it is dry and frozen, he can travel over
it with great speed, and this he does by a most unusual trot which
carries him along much faster than the trotting gait of a horse. Thus he
is able to escape the hungry, carnivorous wolves, whose courage
increases with appetite. If crowded too close, he is able also to
protect himself by the most terrific blows of his fore-feet.

But when the spring weather sets in, and the snows begin to melt
underneath, leaving the upper crust sufficiently strong to support the
weight of lighter and smaller animals, such as wolves, especially when
they travel swiftly, he is in great danger. For with every step he sinks
to the belly in the snow, while his enemies can walk right up to his
head and shoulders without his being able to strike or paw them with his
dangerous hoofs. The advantage seems to be with the wolves, and if ever
they bring the moose to bay in the snow, his life is doomed. For they
care little for his arrow-like horns, but boldly jump at his throat and
kill him. Herein comes the elk's wisdom--he deliberately sets to work,
before the snow melts, and builds for himself and family an elk-yard,
which is nothing more than a large space of ground on which the snow is
smoothed or trampled down until it becomes a hard surface on which he
can walk; it is also surrounded by a high wall of snow, through which
are certain exits that allow him to pass out, if he desires. All the
enclosed space is not smoothed down, but parts of it only are cut up
into roads through which he may pass very swiftly. Woe unto the daring
wolves that enter his snowy fortification--his "No Man's Land"--- for
sure death awaits them!

A sense of law, order, government; the sacredness of family ties--all
these aid in the protection of animals. Family life with them originated
just as it did in the human world. The social instinct and the moral
sentiments which arise from social relations in man and animal are the
same. Moral obligations, especially in relation to family ties and
conjugal unions of animals, are in many cases sacred binders to such
ties. The bear, for example, is proverbial for his conjugal
faithfulness. The married life of most animals is strictly moral, and
most of them are monogamists and have reached the highest form of family
association and life.

In those places where they live promiscuously, it gives them the same
protection in herds as it does among our lower savages. Cattle, sheep,
and horses unite for mutual protection; wolves band together in packs;
and after they have been domesticated there is still not only a strong
desire to band together for social purposes, but also to hold courts of
justice. It sometimes happens that an angered husband takes the law in
his hands, like uncivilised men, and beats his wife.

In the development and organisation of social and civil life the horse
and the goat hold the foremost position. It corresponds to that of man
among the lower animals. They do not believe in monarchies, but strictly
in republics, or rather, a democracy where all power comes from the
working class. The claims of the working class to the exercise of
supreme control in all political affairs are practically realised. Among
a herd of wild Arabian horses, the leading stallion, or so-called king,
is really only the father of the tribe; his functions are paternal
rather than regal. If he may be said to reign in a certain sense, the
true workers rule, and his scouts and sentinels obey his wishes which
the workers have influenced and formulated.

The existence of but one king leaves no room for dynastic troubles and
rivalries which disturb, so often, our human countries and empires with
such dreadful results. If two rival kings arise at the same time in a
herd of horses, instead of forming factions in the state which end in
civil war, they fight it out personally until one of them is killed or
defeated. Once in a great while the other horses intervene, and drive
the less desirable, or the false-claimant of power, away from the herd
and its grazing territory. In these troubles the real king has little or
no power, all activities are carried on by the workers.

If by chance he dies or is captured, another king, chosen by the herd,
immediately assumes the kingship. It is a well-known fact that if the
king of a herd of wild horses is caught, it is not uncommon for his herd
to remain as near him as possible, and in their attempt to release him
are often trapped themselves. The king has no heirs, either apparent or
presumptive, and no right of succession is recognised. Any member of the
herd, provided the workers choose him, may become the king, as every
American school boy is a possible president of the United States.

Among many animals there is a perfect social and industrial organisation
in which the division of labour is far better adjusted than in many
human organisations. This, of course, is the result of gradual growth
and evolution just as it is in the human species. This can easily be
proved among animals by their more primitive and savage habits. Monkeys,
for example, in civilised monkey communities, differ very greatly from
those of wilder and less trained districts. They are constantly changing
their habits, becoming more and more civilised by improving their
methods of work and their moral and religious life as well. In many
cases they have ceased to kill members of their own tribe for small
offences for which they used to kill, and the cleanness and beauty of
their home lives seem to increase with the years.

It oftentimes happens, however, that powerful ape and baboon colonies
relapse into barbarism, and roam, plunder, rob and murder, like a pack
of uncivilised wolves or hyenas. They seem all at once to forget their
peaceful industries and lose all desire for clean and right living. And
strangely enough, when they once turn bad, they seldom reform. Some
naturalists believe that they are led astray by a wicked king or ruler
who comes into power; the natives believe the evil spirits have suddenly
taken possession of them.

There is unquestionably, in the life of many tribal animals, a definite
historical connection between the mother tribe and its colonies. This
relation extends to the tribes of tribes, and thus there is an
international relationship between the various members of a large number
of tribes. These communities share the same likes, dislikes, hatreds,
and aspirations. A missionary friend told of his experience with monkey
folk, and how once, when hunting, his gun was accidentally discharged,
instantly wounding a large semi-tame baboon near his home. He hastened
to help the injured animal, but saw that the relatives had crowded
around and were terrorised, as they thought it was intentional. They not
only followed him to his home, but returned in the night and actually
tore his fence down. For months he was afraid to leave his wife alone
during the day. And the natives reported that large tribes of monkey
folk immediately came into the community from remoter regions and were
distinctly on the war path. It was evident that their unjust antipathy
was extended to all the kinspeople.

This is evidence of hereditary enmity, such as is common among families,
tribes, and clans, and it often takes the form of feuds, which are still
in vogue in the mountainous counties of the South. The baboons had
suffered wrongs and never forgot it, and it was transmitted to their
offspring.

[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_

BRONTOSAURUS. THE ANIMALS THAT SEEMED BEST EQUIPPED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES
ARE THE ONES THAT, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, BECAME EXTINCT.]

[Illustration: THIS PREHISTORIC MONSTER WAS EQUIPPED NOT ONLY WITH A
PAIR OF STRONG HORNS, BUT WITH A SHIELD BACK OF THEM AS WELL.]

The ability to use weapons, tools, and war instruments is not
exclusively human. Even fish are capable of reaching their prey at a
long distance. The _toxotes jaculator_, which lives in the rivers of
India, and feeds upon insects, cannot afford to wait until the insects
which thrive upon the leaves of aquatic plants fall into the water. So
as he cannot leap high enough to catch them, he fills his mouth with
water and squirts it at an insect with such aim and force that he rarely
fails to knock the insect into the water where he can easily catch it.
Many other animals squirt various liquids, occasionally in attack, but
most times in defence. The fish makes a veritable squirt-gun of his
mouth.

Beavers use sticks, chips, and even stones in building their dams; and
their engineering abilities are astounding. They are also capable of
meeting emergencies, as shown by the following incident. A farmer in
Michigan discovered one morning, just after a flood, that all his potato
sacks, which had been hung on a back fence to dry, had suddenly
disappeared. A few days later he found them in a nearby beavers' colony,
used in rebuilding their dam, which had suddenly overflowed. The beavers
wasted no time, when they discovered their danger, in meeting the
emergency by using the sacks to prevent the destruction of their home.

Monkeys make skilled use of clubs and stones in capturing their prey and
fighting their enemies.

The skill with which some of them throw pebbles would lead us to believe
they have already reached the degree of civilisation that many tribes of
savages had reached only a few years ago, when they learned to use the
boomerang and lasso. Some naturalists claim that monkeys actually set
pitfalls for their enemies and lie in wait for them to be caught, just
as a hunter would do.

Elephants also know the value of clubs in warfare, and will often use a
broken limb of a dead tree as a weapon of defence. The story is told and
vouched for by Mr. William B. Smith that on his farm, near Mount
Lookout, a few years ago a donkey grazed in the same pasture with a
ferocious bull. He was frequently attacked by the bull, and always got
the worst of the fight. His feet were no match for the bull's horns, but
one day the mule grabbed a long pole in his mouth, and, whirling it
about, almost killed the bull, and henceforth the two lived on the best
of terms in the same pasture.

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